A Reponse to Stuart Halls What is This Black in Black Popular Culture

Black Experience and Expressivity in Contemporary Popular Culture Stuart Hall's "What is this Black'in Black Popular Culture?" describes the concept of difference in the struggle over cultural hegemony found within the productive margins of postmodern culture. Hall argues that black culture portrays the influence of black original heritage in the African continent and the conditions of the black diaspora in the New World that resulted from forced coercion of slaves from the African continent. In doing so, Hall argues that black culture has uniquely developed as a culmination of the two and is defined by the emphasis on style, music, and depiction of the body.

Hall's main argument in his article, "What is this Black' in Black Popular Culture?", centers around the idea that popular culture is "where we discover and play with the identifications of ourselves, where we are imagined, where we are represented, not only to the audiences out there who do not get the message, but to ourselves for the first time" (Hall, 113). He stresses the importance of identifying popular culture as the ground in which individuals utilize entirety of perspectives, attitudes, and images to progress oneself and society as a whole. Additionally, he argues popular culture is the "structuring of cultural space in terms of high and low" (Hall, 113). Hall describes the placement of cultural space as a high and low opposition because it allows for the top to reject the bottom for prestige while simultaneously depending on the low, resulting in the development of subjectivity as a psychological dependence upon others that are excluded at the social level (Hall, 113). Last, Hall attempts to incorporate race in this Context by rejecting the biological definition of race and embracing the "deep questions here of culture transmission and inheritance and of complex relations between African origins and the irreversible scatterings of the diaspora" (Hall, 109).

Hall asserts that difference in society is no longer defined by genetic differences of individuals but instead marked by distinct cultural characteristics and therefore a system of equal races. In doing so, Hall describes that African heritage is found in the same cultural niche with the selective derivation of European cultures, giving a unique "black" aspect to black popular culture. Personally, Hall's comment that black men "claim visibility for their hardness only at the expense of the vulnerability of black women and the feminization of gay black men" proves to be most compelling (Hall, 112). It reveals his belief that black men believe they must prove their masculinity by belittling the power of women and emasculating other men. This quote resonates with me because often times in current society, rap artists perpetually emphasize the objectification of women and emasculation of other men. For example, famed African American rapper and singer Nelly's song and music video, "ITip Drill," objectifies women as nothing more than scantily clad, pretty accessories for men.

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Famed African American rapper, 50 Cent also contributes to this idea in his song "You Ain't No Gangsta" by repeatedly diminishing the reputation of other men. Additionally, I also found Hall's statement that "within culture, marginality... has never been such a productive space as it is now," powerful because he is able to identify the distinct richness of cultures that are often shunned from society because they do not occupy "high culture" standards (Hall, 106). He describes this unique space in order to emphasize the depth of experience that black popular culture exhibits. I can relate with this part of the passage after reading Rudolph Y. Byrd describe how Audre Lorde's position as one of the first public black lesbian feminists allowed her to branch out and spur the creation of black queer studies, expose discrimination against gays and lesbians, and spur women's health awareness (Byrd, 17-20). In doing so, Byrd emphasizes how Lorde utilizes her experience as an individual in marginalized social groups to strengthen her cause and pioneer other movements.

Furthermore, I believe that Hall's position as a renown Jamaican cultural theorist in the United Kingdom and many years of experience in designing broad perspective cultural theories allow for other individuals to easily relate and connect with his ideas of the distinct qualities of black popular culture. Overal, I found Hall's logical conclusions, written to extend to a broad audience, very intriguing. Undoubtedly, I would gladly read another text by Hall to further appreciate the way he is able to use logiC to formulate new ideas about culture, cultural terminology, and cater to a wide audience all the while. In contemporary times, I would recommend this book to individuals that are either feling the effects of social marginalization or those that are seeking the importance of the black experience in today's popular culture. In essence, Hall validates the "black" in black popular culture as a repertoire of black experience and black expressivity.

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